A Living Sacrifice… Act Like It

- Last Sunday we read the first part of Romans chapter 12 – Paul says we are to be living sacrifices who shun the ways of this world by realigning our thinking to the things of God.

- Today we are going to look at some actions that are good indicators our lives have become living sacrifices.

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit;, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head., 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

1. Keep it real.

- We cannot fake love – the word used in verse 9 is agape – agape is good will toward others as God modeled by doing what God knew best not what man desired by sending Jesus (among many other things).

- This sets the stage for the rest of what Paul is telling us… if we cannot love honestly and with the full force of God’s love in us then we cannot accomplish anything we are about to talk about.

- Oh, and by the way, the world knows when we are faking it.

2. Hate evil commit to what is good.

- The hypocrite will smile and say “it’s okay” even when they know it isn’t.

- The hypocrite will smile and say “nothing wrong with that” even when they know there is.

- If you really love with the deep fervor of Christian agape, then you will have a holy hatred for every evil thing.

3. We are family… so love each other like it.

- This is from the word for philos love or brotherly love – you naturally love those in your family at a young age. I would venture to say that even if a family member really hurt you that deep down somewhere you can still identify that family love.

4. Seek out, rejoice in, and honor the good in one another.

- Keep in mind Paul is preaching humility not hypocrisy so we must be careful not to make things up.

5. Be on fire in serving the Lord.

- You cannot serve God half- hearted. You got to be all in!

- Jesus told us to be light and if nothing burns there is no light.

6. Face trials with hope, endurance and the habit of prayer.

- We must keep our hope. Our reward is received beyond this life.

- The way to maintain our hope and find strength to endure is through prayer.

7. Be different than the world in our actions toward each other.

- Share in meeting needs.

- Practice hospitality – welcome others into your home.

- Bless others even if they are against you.

- Celebrate the good times.

- Weep during the hard times.

- Live in a harmony – harmony does not mean unison. Think about music. Harmony is different notes working together to make beautiful music.

- Be truly humble in all you do.

8. Be different than the world in our actions toward the world.

- Just because they treat you horribly doesn’t give you license to retaliate.

- People are watching, keep this in mind.

- You do your part to not cause trouble but if trouble comes then let God deal with the one who caused it. You are accountable for YOUR actions and so will everyone else. Make sure your actions honor God.

9. Right beats wrong every time.